Impermanence is Permanence

Undisputedly, it can be stated that mankind had excessively exploited natural resources and abused the environment mercilessly — right from the perennial rivers such as the Ganges that flows from the pristine Himalayan range, now polluted with dead bodies along with other effluents, to the Rainforests of Amazon, nature’s wonder that has been bulldozed for timber and exploited for its natural resources — right from the depths of vast oceans polluted with millions of gallons of oil slick to the thermosphere high above us spilled with space debris. These apart, thousands of animal species have been killed for trophies, for protective clothing, for decorating their exotic skin as accessories, their body parts used as an aphrodisiac, for oil, for consumption as food and for game. In India, industrial effluents flow into the rivers without check, urban waste contaminates the city lakes used for drinking water, poisonous chemical waste is surreptitiously pumped into deep underground wells by Pharma companies, animals are poached and then called endangered species, continuous deforestation to accommodate the exploding population, etc., for personal enrichment, are nothing but an uncharitable response to nature’s relentless support over billions of years. Under the Law of Torts, ‘Vicarious Liability’ refers to a situation where a person is held responsible for the actions or omissions of another person, especially in the case of offenses committed by the ‘servant’ are pointed to his ‘Master’. We the people are now paying for the acts of our leaders, for it is we who ‘employed’ them with a mandate in the first place.

Nothing had been spared to satisfy human greed. We have facilitated a single point window for the ‘ease of abuse’ on natural resources without accountability and responsibility. Unlimited and abusive exploitation by all government heads has exposed the people to a compromising position. It has been proven beyond doubt that no virtuous person chooses politics as an occupation. It is as impossible as finding a virgin in a maternity ward. To me, all politicians are birds of the same feather and I believe in the memorable quote of James Bond — ‘Governments change - the lies stay the same' in ‘GoldenEye’, hence I consider discussing about politicians a criminal waste of one’s precious time.

In the earlier days, we gave equal priority to the rituals of death ceremonies as we had given to marriage celebrations. Now, for the first time, ‘death’ has become a subject matter of ‘terror’ rather than grief. Two years ago, we used to bid a ceremonious farewell to the departed in accordance with the tenets of our faith. Now, the condolences to the bereaved have become a mere WhatsApp message with an emoji or a symbol along with a text of RIP. The rampant spread of the deadly virus identified with a double strain (and in some parts more of it), has become more fatal than the earlier version with a huge toll. Death is no more a subject matter of mere sorrow. In the last two months, many known have passed away and many more detected positive and hospitalised, some succumbed and some recovered by grace. In the present scenario, our panic will only turn to an incurable illness unless one handles it and overcomes it. When one understands the circumstances and begins to accept the change, fear will be decimated. Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius observed that ‘Universe Transforms Forever and Life is Only an Opinion’. Hence, the present pandemic should only be observed as part of the inevitable change.

It is now necessary for us to redefine life and make the rest of it effective with less worry. Fear and worry will not lead to any solution. The human body is an in-built pharmacy with extraordinary antidotes and the psychological fear only weakens the immune system. These are not our last days, but only a new beginning with a change of equations related to everything in connection with us both in body and mind. It is the beginning of a new era, teaching us to adopt a different lifestyle as per the circumstances, just as the British naturalist Charles Darwin professed to the world in his book, ‘On the Origin of Species’ in the year 1859 with his famous ‘Survival of the Fittest’ thesis. We, the human species, need to be fit to survive and contribute with our might to the coming generations.

The first and foremost of the measure is to religiously follow all the preventive measures that have been advised by the healthcare authorities to avoid spreading of the virus even to one single count, including us. The second most important is to treat each day as an additional opportunity and not to waste it before TV sets, nor to while away in unworthy habitude or lead a sedentary life. One should identify his or her inner passions and start to explore them, and age is no bar for such endeavours. Parents need to wisely counsel the youngsters indulging in visual entertainment that it blunts their mind’s capabilities. One can utilise this opportunity to acquire complementary skills or research on their favourite subjects. It is important not to be shaken by the chaos around us. In order to acquire new skills or knowledge, one has to create a universe of his own and stay away from the disturbing WhatsApp posts. Continuous feed of the information only turns a person to a hypochondriac.

As a preventive measure, I cancelled my summer vacation this year as I did in last year, during the Court Holidays, to avoid exposure to risks in my vulnerable sixties. My summer vacation usually has some assignments planned to occupy myself for at least six to seven hours of the day, which is more casual. The rest of the time, I indulge in reading or writing future articles for my blog. In this connection, I have collected several books on new subjects to read and, in combination, I have shortlisted certain books in connection to my profession. In fact, it is not a vacation for me except that I have the luxury of designing the adjustable itinerary with a compulsory afternoon nap. Physical exercise such as walking and yoga is one area I decided to regulate. Hence, I prepared a new checklist: work from home until normalcy is restored, exercise without missing a day, regulate my diet with more of vegetables and fruits and a serious target to reduce weight, continue my 'early to bed and early to rise' ritual that I have been practising for the past fifteen years and, more importantly, conceive further meaningful articles useful to the readers of my blog. But I found more changes are needed to further improvise my lifestyle.

One more important area is the economic discipline with depleted income resources due to pandemic. Irrespective of the size or volume of earlier income resource, everyone is hit by the pandemic — whether one is poor, or above or below middle-class, or rich —everyone is facing the heat. My heart pains for the entrepreneurs of this country who are the harbingers of economy since the earliest times, in providing employment to lakhs of skilled and unskilled, in paying taxes, in earning foreign exchange to the country, etc. It is only in the private sector where opportunity is not threatened by any ‘reservation’ guidelines with respect to religion, caste or region. The honest entrepreneur is wriggling to survive in this failed economy and governance. One might have assets, but liquid cash will soon become scarce. Hence, one has to mitigate the looming threat and preserve the vital resource of income with several measures.

In his inaugural speech, soon after being elected as the 35th President of the United States of America, John Fitzgerald Kennedy inspired his countrymen of all ages with a thrilling opening statement, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Whereas, India is a country of successful people and failed governments whose leaders are focused only on the mandate from the people once in five years. The governance is focused on canvassing about their abilities with slogans and catchy phrases but not on various measures to ensure the welfare of the people. Achievements of successful people were hijacked by the modern-day leaders claiming them as their own success in governance. This ‘play’ has been going on for a very long time and only becoming better and better. The fault is not with the candidates seeking mandate, but it is ours who have voted them and in the process given them the license to devour not only the resources of this land but also in leaving us least choices as we are caught in their vicious gauntlet.

My search for inner passion began last year during the first COVID-19 wave at which time I found that my core ability was creative writing. In fact, soon after the Courts shut down on March 18, 2020, I spent the first few weeks relaxing with absolutely no agenda, watching the news about the pandemic in various channels. Then later, I realised that it was time to accept the changed circumstances and put a stop to the ritual. I started off initially by reading my previous articles that I'd been writing since 2008, which were fine but I needed to bring some perspective into it where readers of all walks of life could find it interesting and also gain from it. A week later, I started writing and it went on very well but I was not convinced with the mode of broadcasting it via WhatsApp. It had to be posted in a domain to give access to the general public, reaching whoever enjoys reading. Thus, ‘Prem’s World’ was born. I started with ‘The Con Science’ and posted the same to my contacts on the 31st of October 2020, which was received by one and all of all ages as ‘refreshing’. Thereafter, I lined up several other projects to write. My tools are only my skills of creativity to inspire readers with my perceptions. Since that day, I have not thrifted my time and, on the other hand, the flow improved amazingly. The blogs became a new genre of experiences, perceptions blended with anecdotes and parables.

My innovation not only saved me from depression but gave me immense satisfaction when the publisher Notion Press, having its offices at Singapore, India and Malaysia, showed keen interest to publish my first volume titled ‘The Con Science & Other Perceptions’. The team at Notion Press found my blog as ‘refreshing, articulate and engaging’ and unanimously certified that the articles are ‘by far the best manuscript ever read’. I was overwhelmed and found my life purposeful. I have reached a destination that will keep me active every day, for the sole reason that I have some meagre talent that can keep me alive and remembered. At this age of 65 years, I can’t ask for more.

One needs to invest in self, with an anxiety like Socrates. A few hours before he was supposed to drink the poisonous hemlock, Socrates heard a melodious song coming from outside his prison. He peeped through the small ventilator in the prison and found that it was from a beggar on the curbs of the street seeking alms from the pedestrians passing by. Socrates asked the beggar to teach him that song. After a few minutes of practice, Socrates started to sing the song without the beggar's help. On accomplishing the proper note and rhyme, Socrates thanked the beggar for teaching him the song. His followers who were imprisoned along with him were shocked at the attitude of Socrates and asked him with curiosity as to why he learnt that song when he had only a few hours left to drink poison. Socrates stated with a smile that he did not know the song an hour ago and he had one more accomplishment now before he drinks the hemlock. The more I read about Socrates and his unequivocal thought process, I begin to realise that I know nothing to claim and I need to spend every second for the rest of my life with an increased appetite to learn and to furthermore ration every minute.